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Interview with
SCOOTER WARD
from
COLD

(3rd June 2024)

Interview with Shaquira Hobbs

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Shaquira Hobbs: COLD is gearing up for an exciting Australian tour with ‘ORGY’ and also celebrating the 20th anniversary of your landmark album Year of the Spider. Can you tell us a little bit about that and how you’re feeling?
Scooter Ward (Cold): I mean, we feel great about it. We did a tour here in the States, we did a 58-show tour last year with the anniversary of the spider. So we’re definitely well-versed in playing that album. And we were doing it back-to-back, the whole record. So the set is track by track. And then we’re hoping to, you know, I’m going to talk a little bit with Orgy and see what the setlist times are and what we’re thinking, what they’re thinking about. Because we definitely want to play Year of the Spider in its entirety. However, I think, you know, we haven’t been over there yet. So I’d like to play some of the other songs that people love as well and just make a cool night out of it. It’s going to be great.

Shaquira Hobbs: Now it looks like you’re on a tour bus there and you’re currently on tour with Orgy doing 38 shows. Is that correct?
Scooter Ward (Cold): Yeah, yeah. They’re right now they’re doing the celebration of the candy ass over here in the States. So, we’re just, we’re not doing the spider with them. We already did that tour. So, but yeah, it’s a great tour. A lot of shows are sold out. And if they’re not there, they’re at it. So the tour’s been really successful.

Shaquira Hobbs: Year of the Spider debuted at number three on the Billboard album charts and you sold over a hundred and one thousand copies in the first week. How did it feel to achieve such a commercial success with this album so early on?
Scooter Ward (Cold): It’s funny. I was talking to a person yesterday from Australia about that. And you know, we there was a lot of momentum coming off of just a movement going cold with the spider. We knew it was going to play.
But I had no idea. Like I remember I was flying. I was, I got stranded at a hotel during a tour or something like that. And I was taking a car to the venue. And as I’m in the car, I hear the radio come on. I think that they were announcing the billboard thing for some reason. And it was 50 cent. Number one, Marilyn Manson, number two and COLD number three. And that was a moment for me. Like I was I don’t get too excited about things like that, but I had no idea we were going to be the number three record in the country on just the Billboard total format. So that was pretty crazy. I literally called my parents and go, holy shit, I did something.

Shaquira Hobbs: What do you think it was about that album that resonated so strongly with fans?
Scooter Ward (Cold): I don’t know. I think it was just it connected with a lot of people and just the, you know, I know. Us, me and Rivers doing the song, Stupid Girl, that was the first single and that was exciting for people and the video was cool. And I think just the songs coming off that album, the way it was produced, it just resonated with people and their emotions and everything. So everything, it was, you know, landing in a bottle was a moment that got captured. It was a cool album.

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Shaquira Hobbs: And when performing it live, do you notice a different reaction from the crowd compared to your other songs?
Scooter Ward (Cold): Well, you know, A lot of the cold shows, you know, we create like moments in the show where it’s very emotional. Our fans are really attached to what we do and all the lyrics I sing are true and it really connects with them. So, cold shows are a little different than the standard rock show. You know, it’s not just a rah rah kind of thing. It’s definitely people get in their feelings and go through an experience. And I share stories on the songs and how they were created or what I was going through at the time. And it brings them into a just a cool, beautiful night where they can, you know, they, we bring them back to that moment where they were probably going through some shit and they heard that album and it helped them. So, I go through it every time I play those songs. So when I did my first album, Ross Robinson taught me that I was up on the mic, singing a song in the studio. And he was saying that, He kept stopping me and I was like, what’s going on? And he walked in the room with me and he goes, dude, because, because I had a trick for you. He goes, when he goes, it’s just a tip. He goes, when you go into sing a song, I don’t care if it’s in a studio, in a room, just for a couple of people or for a thousand people. Like when you walk up to the microphone at any moment, if you really want to do this with your life, you have to transport yourself back to that moment when you created that song and what you’re going through and why you did it, and all of those things for it to translate well to people. And I think I took that advice throughout my entire career. And that’s what I try to do every night when I get on stage. And that’s what creates a moment for everyone.

Shaquira Hobbs: If you could go back in time, would there be anything that you would change about the way things were produced?
Scooter Ward (Cold): I don’t think so. You know, I think when you first get done with any album, you always want to do little changes and stuff like that. But then with time, you listen back and it’s just it was a beautiful experience. And I don’t think I would change anything on any of our albums. That’s good. Definitely.

Shaquira Hobbs: Year of the Spider had a significant impact on the rock and new metal scene in the early 2000s. How do you think it influenced other bands as a genre and whole?
Scooter Ward (Cold): It’s funny, I was talking to Howard Benson, the guy that produced Year of the Spider, just last week, we were talking about doing an EP after we do our album for next year with just a few songs. And he was talking about, because man, I don’t think you understand how important that record was to metal artists, that you might not, you know, even screamo artists and heavier bands. Because when bands come into the studio and they get all the records on the wall, he goes, they pointed you’re the spider. And then you got to talk to me about that. Because it was a thing for them. Like you, you know, besides the Breaking Benjamins and all those bands, like there’s heavier artists that are influenced by that. And he goes,   it’s because out of all my records that I created, I think in the top three, Year of the Spider is the one that I used because when we recorded that record with Howard, it was a time when we were going through, just when analog was transitioning to digital and the recording process of producing. So that was a new thing for Howard to do and us to do as well. So we were all getting acclimated to the change from analog to digital during that record. And that’s why that record sounds that way, with the wall of sound with guitars. And he used that as a template for many of his other records throughout his career. So yeah, it was a special thing.

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Shaquira Hobbs: That’s amazing. Definitely makes you feel important knowing that everyone looks up to you.
Scooter Ward (Cold): Well, it’s nice to be, you know, I don’t need all the things. I don’t need high record sales or radio play and stuff like that. But it is nice at the end of my career if I can have all the records sound different. And that’s a part of my legacy. And if I can know that I’ve influenced some people that are really valuable to others, you know, I think that’s better than all the things that I can do.

Shaquira Hobbs: What’s one thing about you that fans might be surprised to learn about? Any hidden talents?
Scooter Ward (Cold): No, I have no talents. Yeah, he’s an analyst. Come on. My guitarist is laughing at me right now. Yeah, I don’t know. I don’t really have any talents. I used to surf a lot back when I was a kid. Yeah. And I’ve…
Really want to surf in Australia. However, I don’t know if I’m going to have time with the four days. It’s always been my goal to surf there. However, I don’t think I can. I only have four days and it’s going to be hectic. It’s show to show, but I would love to try to paddle out there.

Shaquira Hobbs: You’ll have to get out real nice and early and get out there.
Scooter Ward (Cold): I know, I know. It would be nice though.

Shaquira Hobbs: If you could collaborate with any artist dead or alive, who would it be and why?
Scooter Ward (Cold): Lord alive. Nick Cave is one of my favorite writers. I think him or the band, The National, or those guys are some of my favorite musicians. I would just like, you know, to step outside my zone and do something cool with artists like that, like Warren Ellis and Nick Cave. If I could get Warren Ellis to produce a track just before we both leave this earth, that would be my favorite thing of all time. Well, we’ll call him out for it. We’ll try to get a hold of him for it.

Shaquira Hobbs: What’s the funniest, almost awkward thing that’s ever happened to you on stage?
Scooter Ward (Cold): On stage? The most awkward thing that ever happened to me is almost the show where we were on tour with Jerry Cantrell from Alice in Chains. He was doing his first solo thing, right? He was doing his first solo thing and he brought Cold out as the opener. And his bus had left him. We were at a hotel park and we were in the bus and his bus had left him. This is the only Jerry Cantrell on the show. He’s like, who can I get a ride? I go, of course. So he jumps on our bus and he had a joint and I normally never smoked before a show, but Jerry Cantrell was like our first time hanging out together. He had a joint. So I thought it was going to be cool and smoke it with him. So I smoked it with him and then I got on stage and I literally forgot every lyric to all my songs and I literally had a panic attack. And so I just held the mic out. And luckily all the fans started singing the songs and that brought me back and everything was okay. But for the first moment, I think we opened up like just got wicked or something. I was like, how the hell do I not know what I’m doing right now? And I just got down on my knee and I just held the mic up and everybody started singing. So that was the most awkward thing that’s ever happened for sure. It was the most scary.

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Shaquira Hobbs: Yeah, that sounds horrible. If there was going to be a movie about cold, who would you choose to play you?
Scooter Ward (Cold): That’s a hard question. Who would play me? What do you think, Ryan? Who could play me? Who could play you? Yeah.
I think I don’t know man. I don’t know. I don’t know. That’s a good one. You got me stumped. The card guy from Star Trek because he’s another Baldy. However, he’s way too old to play me.

Shaquira Hobbs: You might have to play yourself.
Scooter Ward (Cold): There you go. I play my guitar all the time.

Shaquira Hobbs: Any pre-show rituals that you like to do before you get on stage?
Scooter Ward (Cold): Not really. We were actually talking about that earlier. We were talking about other bands, the way they do all the vocal warmups and stuff. And I’ve never really considered myself like a vocalist, I’m more of just a songwriter person. So I don’t go through all the motions of doing vocal warmups or anything like that.
I kind of just me and Ed sit on the bus and listen to Dave Bazan and kind of sing along to that. And then just smoke cigarettes and walk on stage. So it’s a really easy process. Classic rock and roll.

Shaquira Hobbs: Why not?
Scooter Ward (Cold): Right, right.

Shaquira Hobbs: Well, thank you so much for chatting with me today, Scooter. It was lovely and enjoy the rest of the tour. And I can’t wait to see you in Australia.
Scooter Ward (Cold): Thank you so much for doing this. I appreciate you. And come say hey at the show. If you’re coming to an A show, come and say hey.

Shaquira Hobbs: Definitely. And hopefully you get out for a surf.
Scooter Ward (Cold): Yes, hopefully. Have a lovely one. Thank you.

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Follow COLD
Twitter – Instagram – Facebook – Spotify

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Press Release 18th April 2024 (below) HERE

ORGY
Celebrating 25 Years Of
CANDYASS

COLD
Celebrating 20 Years Of
YEAR OF THE SPIDER

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AMNPLIFY – DB